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Among 41 male-dominated occupations in the United States (US), firefighters and police officers have the third highest prevalence rate of obesity. However, little is known about occupational risk factors for obesity in firefighters. This study aims to investigate whether adverse psychosocial working conditions of firefighters are associated with obesity.
Methods
203 firefighters in a Southern California county volunteered to participate in a pilot work and health web-survey. From them, 146 male firefighters who worked at local fire stations and had valid study variables were selected for this analysis. The total number of calls on a typical work day, the total number of 24-hr work shifts in the past month, job control (5 JCQ items), job demands (3 JCQ items for time pressures and conflicting demands), and organizational culture (8 JCQ items for procedural justice, organizational support, and macro-level decision latitude) were self-reported. Body mass indexes (BMIs, kg/m2) were calculated based on self-reported heights and weights. Age, education, household income, marital status, ethnicity, and health behaviors (exercise, sleep, emotional eating, and smoking) were controlled for in multivariate regression analysis.
Results
In the ranks of firefighters and engineers (n=93), high psychological job demands (p =. 02) and high daily calls (i.e., 8 or more calls vs. 5 to 7 calls, p =.12) were associated with higher BMIs. In the ranks of captains and chiefs (n=53), poor organizational culture (p = .03) and low daily calls (i.e., 4 or less calls vs. 5 to 7 calls, p = .13) were associated with higher BMIs.
Discussion
High psychological job demands (for lower ranks) and poor organizational culture (for higher ranks) appear to be risk factors for obesity in firefighters. Middle range daily calls seem to be least obesogenic to firefighters. These findings will be cross-validated in an on-going larger study (Grant # R21OH009911, CDC/NIOSH).